1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium suitable for use in an ink-jet recording method, a method of forming images using such a recording medium, and a method of producing a print using the recording medium, and more particularly to a recording medium which exhibits excellent ink receptivity, provides recorded images excellent in brightness and prevents the occurrence of curling, a method of forming images using such a recording medium, and a method of producing a print using the recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
An ink-jet recording method is a recording method in which recording is conducted by generating and flying droplets of an ink by one of various ink ejection systems, for example, an electrostatic attraction system, a system using a piezoelectric element to give an ink mechanical vibration or change, or a system in which an ink is heated to form bubbles in the ink, thereby using the pressure thus produced, and applying the droplets in whole or in part to a recording medium such as paper. The ink-jet recording method attracts attention as a printing method which scarcely produces noise and can conduct high-speed printing and multi-color printing.
As inks for ink-jet recording, inks comprising water as a principal component are mainly used from the viewpoint of safety and recordability. Polyhydric alcohols and/or the like are often added to such inks with a view toward preventing the clogging of nozzle and improving ejection stability.
As recording media used in this ink-jet recording method, there have heretofore been used ordinary plain paper and recording media called ink-jet recording paper in which a porous ink-receiving layer is provided on a base material.
With the improvement in performance of ink-jet recording apparatus, such as speeding up of recording and multi-coloring of images, and the spread of such ink-jet recording apparatus, recording media are also being required to have higher and wider properties. More specifically, in order to obtain recorded images high in resolution and quality, the recording media for ink-jet recording are required to simultaneously satisfy basic requirements, for example, the following properties:
(1) receiving ink therein as quick as possible; PA0 (2) in case ink dots overlap each other, preventing the ink of a dot applied later from running out into a dot applied earlier; PA0 (3) preventing an ink droplet from diffusing thereon to enlarge the diameter of an ink dot beyond its need; PA0 (4) providing dots having a substantially round shape and a smooth periphery; and PA0 (5) providing dots high in optical density (OD) and clear in periphery. PA0 (6) having excellent coloring ability to the coloring component in an ink; PA0 (7) having far excellent ink-fixing ability because the same number of ink droplets as the number of colors of inks may be applied to the same place over and over again; PA0 (8) having a good surface gloss; and PA0 (9) having a high whiteness. PA0 (1) both base material and ink-receiving layer have good light transmission properties, and the recording medium thus has good light transmission properties as a whole; and PA0 (2) the surface of the ink-receiving layer is smooth. PA0 CH.sub.3 Si(OCH.sub.3).sub.3, PA0 CH.sub.3 Si (OC.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.3, PA0 C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Si (OCH.sub.3).sub.3, PA0 C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Si(OC.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.3 and PA0 (CH.sub.3).sub.2 Si(OCH.sub.3).sub.2, and the following compound when n is 0: PA0 Si(OC.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.4 and PA0 Si(OCH.sub.3).sub.4.
In order to obtain recorded images having high resolution comparable with that of a color photograph by a multi-color ink-jet recording method, the recording media are further required to have, in addition to the above performance requirements, the following performance characteristics:
Although recorded images obtained by the ink-jet recording method have heretofore been exclusively used for the observation of surface images, recording media suitable for uses other than the use for the observation of surface images are being required with the improvement in performance and the spread of the ink-jet recording apparatus. Uses of the recording media other than the use for the observation of surface images include uses for the observation of projected images formed by projecting recorded images on a screen by an optical instrument such as a slide projector or an over-head projector (OHP), a color separation plate upon the preparation of a positive plate for multi-color printing, a color mosaic filter (CMF) used in color displays such as liquid crystals, etc.
In case a recording medium is used for the observation of surface images, the diffused light of the recorded images is mainly observed. On the other hand, the transmitted light of the recorded images mainly becomes a matter of importance in the recording media for the uses other than the observation of surface images. Therefore, such recording media are further required to have excellent light transmission properties, in particular, linear transmittance, in addition to the above requirements of the ordinary recording media for ink-jet recording.
However, there has not been yet known under the circumstances any recording medium which can satisfy all these performance requirements.
Many of the conventional recording media for the observation of surface images have had a porous inorganic ink-receiving layer on their surfaces so as to receive an ink in voids thereof to fix the ink. Such a recording medium has been lusterless because its surface has been porous, and has been required to make the ink-receiving layer somewhat thick for receiving the ink therein. On the other hand, in case a non-porous organic ink-receiving layer (composed of a water-soluble resin) has been provided on the surface, such a recording medium has involved a drawback that since a nonvolatile component such as a polyhydric alcohol in an ink remains in the surface of the recording medium for a long period of time after recording, the drying and fixing time of the ink becomes longer, whereby clothes are smeared when coming into contact with recorded images, or the recorded images are impaired due to the peeling of film and the like.